CHC responds to Choice

Wednesday 31st August 2005 9:12am

Customers can trust TGA Listed products.

Complementary Healthcare Council

Making Natural Health Products the First Choice for Health & Wellbeing

Choice attack on Glucosamine – 2 August 2005

Customers can Trust TGA Listed Products

Dear Retailers,

Three major stories have appeared in the media over the past 24 hours regarding Glucosamine. Choice magazine has made claims that there is less than the stated glucosamine in the products. The CHC, the suppliers of the products and the TGA strongly dispute the results.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) says at this stage it is not sure that the correct method has been used or that the Choice analysis is accurate and so is undertaking its own analysis - strong words from the regulator.

The CHC would like to assure our health food store members, who play a crucial role at the front line of natural health, that we are disputing the accuracy of the Choice article. A campaign to challenge these results is being put together, using industry public relations professionals, and legal, technical and other industry experts. We will keep you informed of our progress.

Meantime, you can reassure your customers that the TGA believes that what is stated on the label is what is in the product, based on its own audits. “They are produced under GMP principles which includes testing of every batch released which ensures the right amount of ingredients in each product,” it says.

This highlights the crucial role of health food retailers in explaining to our customers the importance of reading product labels.